It's Done

I just finished the last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
(Don't worry, no spoilers here, I wouldn't dream of it!)

I picked up the book around 10:30 this morning from my local Borders and read all day. I stopped for food. I stopped a couple times to pay attention to the kids (who mostly watched TV all day). And I stopped for about an hour this evening... I had to hold off the last few chapters until the kids were asleep and I knew I could read completely uninterrupted.

It was an enthralling book. It lived up to all my hopes and then some. I have no idea that a day could fly by so fast. I estimate that it took me about 10 hours to read the book. I will have to read it again sometime soon because I'm sure I missed details along the way. I tend to do that... If I am really into a book, I read so fast that I miss some of the writers best nuances. I will read it again. And probably a third time next summer when I want to relive all the emotions of this time.

That being said... I find myself to be very sad. Not in any way related to the plot of the book, only that it is done. Now that I've read book 7, there won't be any more to look forward to. There won't be any more secrets, any more wonderfully written characters who grow and develop until I can feel them. There will be movies, which I always find predictably shallow compared to the books. You just can not take a book written with such depth and development and shorten it in any way. Even the most minor incidence, when left out, leaves a hole in the stories I love so much.

I will find new books to read. I will love them too. But I feel like Harry has left me.
This is silly, REALLY silly to some of you, but I feel like a good friend has moved very far away and I know we will lose touch.

I will miss you Harry. I've looked forward to all your adventures and I can't wait to share them with my children when the time comes.
Thank you J.K. Rowling for filling so many days with entertainment. However, if this should reach you... I do still have a few questions for you.

(I have intentionally left out links to all the copyrighted or trademarked items in this entry. Please don't sue me. If you want more information on any of the items, use Google. That's not my job!) :-)